Acoustically segmented photonic crystal fiber for single-frequency high-power laser applications

The Brillouin gain characteristics of a Yb-doped polarization-maintaining photonic crystal fiber possessing a segmented acoustic profile are investigated using a pump-probe technique. The concentrations of fluorine, aluminum, and germanium in two regions of the core were selected, such that the corresponding Brillouin shifts were sufficiently separated to allow for the introduction of a temperature profile along the fiber for further stimulated Brillouin scattering suppression. By using a cutback technique to measure loss, we estimated the Brillouin gain coefficient to be 1.2 x 10(-11) m/W. Despite differences in the concentration levels of dopants between the two segments, there was no evidence of a development of an optical interface. When this fiber was utilized in a counterpumped amplifier configuration, close to 500W of near-diffraction-limited single-frequency output was obtained. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America